Free Community Workshop - Valarie: A Puppet Show by Blue Silk Productions

In partnership with the 2026 Arts Complex Creates: New Works Incubator Grant, Blue Silk Productions is offering a series of free workshops with the artists of their new puppet show Valarie (running September 25-27), featuring conversations and hands-on learning experiences.

All workshops will take place at the Champa Rehearsal Studio at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, located at 1245 Champa Street on the third floor.

To secure a spot, please email placensiasalvador@gmail.com with your name and the workshop(s) you would like to attend.

Week 1: How Do We Make a Show?

August 30, 11am - 1pm

A conversation with the Blue Silk Productions team about their “makers-lab” approach to art making—building shows by iterating together, using ideas in one medium to inform and shape ideas in another. As they devise, they consider technical, puppetry and story elements all at once. Audience members are invited to ask questions about this process and enjoy a short lecture on the history of the artists' work and practice.

Week 2: Writing and Music, the Building Blocks to a Puppet Show

September 6, 11am - 1pm

Co-Director/Playwright/Puppet Designer Cinco and Composer/Sound Designer Bryse Taylor demo and discuss their relationship and how their crafts inform each other. Music and writing are often the first elements to come into focus, so you’ll get a look at the process months before the residency began, including some of Valarie’s early ideas and how our continued work became the building blocks for the entire show.

Week 3: Devising and Working with Paper Puppets

September 13, 11am - 1pm

An advanced puppet workshop led by Co-Director/Puppet Director/Puppet Designer Katy Williams and Co-Director/Playwright/Puppet Designer Cinco. Come be a part of Valarie and learn to devise with paper puppets, and explore our approach to this style of contact puppetry. Discover what a puppet can do best in the moment. Help create strange and unique creatures, emphasizing the qualities of the paper itself, inspired by characters from Valarie!

Week 4: Projection Mapping and Special Effects 101

September 20, 12pm - 1pm

Projection Designer Kit Matthews and Technical Director/Special Effects Johnny Bartlett lead a demonstration and conversation about technical theater, with an emphasis on projection mapping. Curious about how technical assets are developed or how to achieve certain effects? This is your chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at the tech used in Valarie, along with a demonstration of what it’s like to devise in relationship with projection mapping.

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This program is part of the  2026 Arts Complex Creates: New Works Incubator grants.